Orange eyeshadow? Come to mama. Teal eyeliner? I’m all over it. You don’t have to ask me twice when it comes to trying trendy eye makeup. The answer is the same emphatic “Yes!” I’d give to an up-close-and-personal search from Detective Elliot Stabler on Law & Order: SVU.

But while outrageous eyes can be a blast, this girl’s gotta have her steady staples, too. Tried-and-true eye makeup essentials, like the five summer staples below, can keep your eyes fly when the temperature climbs.

1. Waterproof mascara

Urban Decay Cannonball Waterproof Mascara

Don’t let melting mascara ruin your chances with that hot, muscled, baby-faced guy in your summer school statistics class — the one you thought was adoring you from across the room but later realized was probably wondering how you ended up with two black eyes.

Escape that fate with an industrial-strength waterproof mascara like Urban Decay’s Cannonball ($20). It’s a little pricey, but it stretches my lashes to the limit, resisting sweat and water like a champ (I’ve been wearing it in all my pictures as of late).

I haven’t had the chance to try it yet, but Cover Girl’s $8 Intense Shadow Blast in Beige Blaze sounds like a great drugstore option. MBB reader Erin says it intensifies colors and keeps eyeshadows locked down all day long (thanks, Erin!).

3. Eye cream with SPF

Clarins Sun Wrinkle Eye Contour Care SPF 30

GURL, I don’t have many regrets, but I wish I hadn’t waited until college to get serious about regularly applying sunscreen around my eyes.

Clarins Sun Wrinkle Eye Contour Care SPF 30 ($28) has been my go-to cream for about a year now, and it’s hands down my favorite for daytime. It layers well beneath makeup, absorbs almost immediately, moisturizes well and doesn’t sting my eyes.

I’m still on the hunt for a holy grail drugstore liquid liner, so if you have any suggestions, I’m all ears!

5. Long-wearing under-eye concealer

Never give up! Never surrender! — to dark circles. I would love to have that printed on a bumper sticker, ha! Try to find a long-wearing under-eye concealer tough enough to stand up to sweat. Right now I’m loving MAC Prolongwear Concealer ($16.50), which cruises through the hottest, muggiest days (lasts at least 12-15 hours on me).

I totally know what you mean. When I lived in SF I spent most of my time on public transpo. During those rare hot spells my makeup would practically be melted off if I was on a bus or train for any given length of time!

I hope someday I could get my own NARS Pro Prime Smudge-Proof Eye Shadow Base.. I dont put eye make up all the time because Ive got deep set of eyes, eye make ups and eye liners always smudge evertyime Im sweatin! ulk! These are amazing stuff

I am considering the Prolongwear Concealer, because I have yet to find one that does not crease under my eyes. I use Amazing Cosmetics Concealer, which works fine for a few hours over an eye cream, but it settles into fine lines and makes me look weird and haggard. Like I live in a hut in the woods and help Cary Elwes recover from an almost death.

I have trubs with creasing too, and w/Prolongwear it’s not an issue. I apply it with a MAC 224 and set it w/MAC Careblends applied w/a fan brush… it covers everything, looks really natural AND doesn’t budge!

The hands-down best drugstore liquid liner is Maybelline Ultra Liner. I live in Texas and have never had it run or smudge in our brutal humid summer heat. If you happen to fall asleep in it, it simply rolls off…you don’t wake up with eyeliner down to your cheeks. It’s the only one I buy!

Om nom nom. You had me at Elliot Stabler. It was hard to concentrate on the rest of the post.

I use SPF tinted moisturizer around my eyes, but it never occurred to me (duh) that a more concentrated cream would be beneficial. Around how long does the Clarins tube last you? I’d rather buy that than the Garnier just because of Clarins’ reputation.

And I’m totally going for the NARS primer this summer. I use UD’s in Sin (the champagne) and I’m finding I do need a color-neutral primer. NARS is coming up to bat.

I’m lazy I just buy a slightly lighter version of my foundation shade. I’m an NW43 in foundation and I use NW35 for concealer. Works well so far. The only downside of the Pro Longwear is that it can break when you travel. I took a brand new one in my luggage (with it’s box on) from Scandinavia to Indonesia on vacation and opened the box to find a bottle broken in two. I almost cried, luckily it only broke in the box.

Too Faced Shadow Insurance kept my UD glide on and TF bronzer used as eyeshadow glued on for the entire day, including doing the following activiites: snorkelling, swimming int he pool, splashing around at the beach and just general humidity when I was in Belize at the beginning of the month. I would recommend this one without a doubt!

Physician’s Formula Eye Booster liquid liner in black is all I use now – I used to use the Lorac pro liner that you recommended, but the PF lasts just as long (if not longer) and has built in lash booster serum! Not sure if the serum has made my lashes longer, but I’ve definitely had far less lash fallout since I started using it 2 months ago
Plus it’s only $11!

I have to agree that Physicians formula eye booster eyeliner is fantastic!
It wears all day , I brought black and deep brown and they last as long as my Bobbi Brown and Mac gel liners do.And my lashes seem healthy and fuller!

These are great suggestions! I have a question about waterproof mascara, though. I’ve used Covergirl Lash Blast and L’Oreal Voluminous and both would leave smudges on my eyelids even though they were waterproof (I don’t have this problem with regular mascara). I guess it’s because my eyelids are oily. Have you ever had this problem with waterproof mascaras? Do you know any that won’t leave smudges?

My friend has oily lids and can’t wear waterproof mascara for this very reason. Do you ever use an eyeshadow primer or apply concealer on your eyelids? That might create the necessary barrier to keep your mascara intact.

I LOVE to read your blog, and just wanted to say, I’m loving NYX HD Eye Primer, it works well enough for me, and keeps my makeup on all day and its only 7 bucks (and since I just got the 50 off NYX cosmetics $3.50 for the summer! ) Thanks for all the reviews, I love being able to read up on items before I pay the price for them!

Great tips – esp the eye protection! There are very few things that are more tragic for me, from a makeup standpoint, than smudged or running mascara or eye liner. I have a bad habit of not looking in the mirror throughout the day and then have to wonder “oh, my… how long have I looked like this?”.

Have you tried MAC liquidlast liner?? i use the color ‘point black’ and I can swim, shower and do basically anything in it and it doesnt budge. The brush was tricky at first because it’s kind of long, but the first one i bought I clipped the tip off to shorten it and help me get a more precise line. Now that I have probably gone through 20 bottles of the stuff, it’s easy to line my eyes. It’s the best liner I have ever tried and it’s what made me love MAC.

Haha, can you believe I am watching Law and Order SVU -right now!- I’m going through the seasons, finishing off Season 3 at the moment. Waking up to sex crimes every morning is probably not the best way to wake up – but I can’t get enough of it.

Love the post. As I live in Australia, make-up and Summer makes everything so difficult. Long-wear concealer is a great idea, I’ll have to look into getting some when the 35+C days come along again.

Oh man, I want a pat down from Det. Stabler! Christopher Meloni is my current computer background, lol.

My eye makeup actually hasn’t been melting lately, which is pretty exciting — especially considering it hit 90 over here in DC a few days this week (yuck). I can’t wait til my MAC order arrives and I get to try out Prolongwear!

The BEST liquid eyeliner is the GOSH ones, not only do they have a thin brush, which I love, but they last until I take them off! I’ve done almost 12 hour days, and the liner is a perfect as when I first applied it

They sell GOSH here, but I’ve never tried anything of theirs. You are tempting me now. I don’t like buying expensive liquid liners as they expire in like 6 months or so and it feels crappy to have to throw them out.

Eversince I got myself a Bobbi Brown Corrector to cover my dark circles, I never ventured into others for some reason. It neutralizes so well but I’ve been wanting a highlighting type of concealing lately.

GURL, my mom has told me to use SPF on my face ever since I was in high school, (I’m only a sophomore in college now though, mind you), so I’ve heard tell-tales about regrets about not caring about suncare as much as she does now. Should I start using products like Clarins Sun Wrinkle Eye Contuor Care already though? I definitely always try to use SPF in my face products, though!

& I’m still keeping my eyes and ears open for a great concealor! arghh

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Featured MBB reader of the week: kwmechelle!

Guurl! Thanks for all the '90s hip-hop refs and our fun conversations about bronzer. One day that CoverGirl Queen Collection Bronzer will be mine... IT WILL BE MINE!!!
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